I've felt the bonuses aren't necessary for a long time. Yeah easy to say because I very rarely miss the playoffs... but my team hasn't often had anything to do with those bonuses.
A skill clawback on great players - IMO, drastic, complicated, and very un-'natural".
I could argue about this a pile of ways, and most of the points okp brings up are correct. This has become a league where you're "going for it" or not, and you have to try to time when to go for it for when your strongest competition may not be, if you want to maximize your player assets. I do not play to create a super-team, but I'd selfishly rather not retire very skilled players for "no reason"... "waste" their prime seasons... I'd at least like to use them for a cup run.
One thing at least that is different from the old MLD, these days you win cups with talent, pure and simple.
SO... I've always compared the MLD with Major Junior hockey. Players come in as frosh, they develop over their careers, but their careers necessarily run out at a certain point then they must leave the league. Consequently you see real life teams going through the very real life cycle of growing prospects, bringing veterans together, trading to "go for it", then busting and starting again with younger players. Real life.
But there is one thing real life has which we don't and that's finite time. You can't interrupt a real life player's junior career.
We're talking about outlawing warehousing. Once a player's career starts he must play consecutive seasons till the end of his MLD career, regardless of injury. A simple solution which would completely change the way we all do business.